Now this is a very strange hip-hop album. If you take the concept behind it for starters you can see what I mean: A gynecologist comes from the year 3000 to face medical problems of today. And fuck.

That being said, the album is pretty good. The music is at the same time chilled and pretty innovative. The beats make this a really great album to have in the background while paying attention to the music will make you blush.

Still great to see truly innovative and fresh sounding hip-hop albums coming out. It is a real pity that not much more was heard from Dr. Octagon, barring a couple of vastly inferior albums. This is, however, a true classic.

Track Highlights

1. Blue Flowers2. 30003. Earth People4. halfsharkalligatorhalfman

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

In Dr. Octagonecologyst, Dr. Octagon is described as having yellow eyes, green skin, and a pink-and-white Afro. Further tracks detail a list of services offered by Octagon, who claims to treat chimpanzee acne and moosebumps, and relocate saliva glands. Octagon is described as being incompetent, as many of his surgery patients die as he conducts his rounds. Octagon also pretends to be a female gynecologist and often engages in sexual intercourse with female patients and nurses. Octagon's uncle, Mr. Gerbik, is described as being half shark, having the skin of an alligator, and is 208 years old.

We've had the Chemical Brothers not that long ago here, and now we get the other great name in big beat electronic music. The kind of electronic music that is tailor made to fill up stadiums, beaches, arenas, festivals whatever place you can stick many people in.

Part of its charm is precisely this attempt to appeal to a large crowd, a much bigger one than the rave-going, pill-popping crowd. This does make the music slightly more middle of the road, but when it is well done this does not need to be a negative point.

This is a good big beat album, not the best Fatboy Slim one, which is still to come, but it works perfectly in what it sets out to do. In this sense it is a success, but frankly I am not sure how many times I will actually want to listen to it again. But hey, it's good background music. Oh, and I am a bit more stationary now in my new house, so hopefully we can make this blog slightly more regular again.

Track Highlights

1. Going Out of My Head2. Everybody Needs a 3033. Song for Lindy4. Santa Cruz

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

The album cover features the image of a 3.5-inch floppy disk, paying homage to "Blue Monday" by New Order (which featured a 5.25-inch disk).

I am back! For semi-regular updates. I got a house today, signed the contract, got the keys, now I need to get the electricity, water and gas up and running, and then go back to Manchester, pack everything and come back. As you can imagine this means that my updates are from now on, until the forseeable future only semi-regular, although I hope that by mid-march it should be more regular.

But now let's look at the Super Furry Animals, with an album I love for pretty much the same reasons I liked the Supergrass album. This is relentlessly cheery music, even if it does draw from a lot of older music it does it in an interesting enough way to be original.

The Super Furry Animals are a lot of fun, from songs about Unicorns, Frisbees to convicted criminals like Howard Marks the lyrics are almost dream-like and nonsensical, although little snippets point to interesting stories somewhere in there. Oh and it is very Welsh, from some of the accent to a whole kind of bucolic thing going on. Great album, and of great influence in the whole indie scene which would develop in the next decade.Track Highlights

Fuzzy Logic is often noted for its cover depicting a variety of photos of international drug smuggler Howard Marks. Marks, who is paid tribute to on the song "Hangin' with Howard Marks", visited Rockfield during the making of the album at the band's request "wearing leather trousers and a cloak with a big entourage". As a result, the band later struck up a friendship with Marks, and are referenced in his autobiography Mr Nice.

Thursday, February 05, 2009

A small Hiatus on the blog while I go to Portugal to look for a house. I am taking the next few albums with me so as soon as I set up someplace where I can listen to them there will be more reviews. The film blog will also continue. The Books and Classical music blog go on a more extended hiatus, for a couple of weeks.

If the Screaming Trees have often been put in the same bag as grunge this is because those who put them in that bag have little knowledge of Post-Punk. The clearest musical influence on this album at least is that of British post-punkers, the first song would not be out of place in an Echo and the Bunnymen album for example.

The Screaming Trees are also not afraid to play with psychedelia and other "uncool" things for the mid-90s. The album is backward looking in a good way, it wears its influences lightly enough not to seem derivative, and the songs are good enough for it not to matter much anyway if they did.

Frankly most of the classifications given to this album do not make it justice. Grunge? Not really, it doesn't sound at all like grunge even if they were surrounded by grunge bands. Hard Rock? In a way yes, but so is Def Leppard and this is a very different band to that. No, the mix of Psychedelia and punk influences give it a determinately Post-Punk feel, which makes the album a bit outside of its era, but a pretty good one nonetheless.

Track Highlights

1. All I Know2. Gospel Plow3. Halo of Ashes4. Witness

Final Grade

9/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

After an aborted attempt at recording a followup to Sweet Oblivion with producer Don Fleming, the band hired producer George Drakoulias to man the controls for what eventually turned out to be their last album. In contrast to the group's previous recordings that were more influenced by psychedelic rock and punk music, Dust contains music that is equally influenced by folk and blues, while still retaining a harder-edged sound. "All I Know" was released as a single from the album and became a success on rock radio. "Dying Days," a song that was also released as a single to some minor success, features Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready.

Wednesday, February 04, 2009

807. Alanis Morissette - Jagged Little Pill (1995)

Track Listing

1. All I Really Want2. You Oughta Know3. Perfect4. Hand In My Pocket5. Right Through You6. Forgiven7. You Learn8. Head Over Feet9. Mary Jane10. Ironic11. Not The Doctor12. Wake Up13. You Oughta Know (2)14. Your HouseReview

The right time to listen to this album is when you are in the range of 12 to 16 and this stuff actually speaks to you. Oh, and ideally 14 years ago when this was not the kind of thing every Avril Lavigne was doing. Fortunately, or unfortunately, I was at that stage when this came out, and therefore I kind of cherish this album... probably unfortunately.

The fact that this sounded quite new to me in 1995 does not mean it was, it just means I was ignorant. This is Tori Amos for the mass market, the lyrics are instantly understandable, the music is middle of the road rocky, and for teenagers, who are by nature mentally impaired, it works really well. And they lapped it up.

This is when this blog becomes complicated, when the nostalgia factor creeps in and taints what would otherwise be more objective opinions. But hey this is my blog. So I can say whatever the fuck I want, for what it is it is a great album. For mainstream angsty brat pop-rock there was never better, what Meredith Brooks? Crap. Ani di Franco? Not mainstream at all. Avril Lavigne? Well let's admit it, I'd hit it, but I'd have to gag her first. So yeah this album is actually quite good, the lyrics are easily understandable but with the exception of Ironic, they are never moronic. Still, a tad bit on the annoying side now with hindsight.

Track Highlights

1. Hand in My Pocket (her inflection is just so unintentionally funny)2. Head Over Heels3. You Oughta Know4. You Learned

Final Grade

8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

According to the RIAA, Jagged Little Pill is the best-selling debut album of all time by a female artist, with 16 million copies sold in the U.S. as of September 2008. As of 2005, it had sold thirty million copies worldwide. It was officially the best-selling album in the United States of the 1990s, with (according to Nielsen SoundScan) 13.5 million over-the-counter-sales by January 1, 2000. In Ireland, when Morissette's sixth album Under Rug Swept was released in 2002, Jagged Little Pill re-entered the album chart on February 21 at number seventy-two and reached nineteen on March 7. It took nine weeks for it to depart the chart again, on May 2.

Morissette was attacked for collaborating with producer and supposed image-maker Ballard, Her early dance-pop albums also proved a hindrance for her respectability, particularly in her native country. The album was nominated for six Grammy Awards in 1996, and Morissette won "Best Female Rock Vocal Performance", "Best Rock Song", "Best Rock Album", and "Album of the Year" (she lost "Best New Artist" and "Song of the Year"). Later that year, she embarked on an eighteen-month world tour in support of Jagged Little Pill, beginning in small clubs and ending in large venues. In 1997 she was nominated for two more Grammy Awards: "Record of the Year" and "Best Music Video, Short Form" for "Ironic". The video Jagged Little Pill, Live, which chronicled the bulk of the tour, won a 1998 Grammy Award for "Best Long Form Music Video". In 1998, Q magazine readers voted Jagged Little Pill the nineteenth greatest album of all time. In 2003, the album was ranked number 327 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.

Tuesday, February 03, 2009

806. Goldie - Timeless (1995)

Track Listing

1. Timeless2. Saint Angel3. State Of Mind4. This Is A Bad5. Sea Of Tears6. Jah The Seventh Seal7. A Sense Of Rage (Sensual Vip Mix)8. Still Life9. Angel10. Adrift11. Kemistry12. You And Me13. Inner City Life (Baby Boy's Edit)14. Inner City Life (Rabbit's Short Attention Span Edit)

Review

Over the decades Jamaican music has brought us many joys. I would not, however, include Jungle Drum & Bass in this category. However, like in almost any genre, there are always a couple of albums which have great merit. This is one of them.

Unless you are a proper junglist you will probably never need to listen to many Jungle albums other than Timeless by Goldie, he uses the breakbeats and sounds that made Jungle what it is in a very intelligent way, breaking the music away from its utilitarian ends as dance music into something which can be appreciated by itself.

The problem is that it is very dated. The whole genre is, even the whole genre of dance music is dated and does not look like it is going to make a great return outside holiday resorts. By dance music I mean specifically music composed with an utilitarian aim of filling up clubs instead of just "electronic music". The E culture is disappearing (sadly I might add) and it's all about hipsters listening to yet another samey-indie-band track on their night out. Timeless manages to be both utilitarian and quite interesting, however, and if you are interested you should definitely check it out.

Track Highlights

1. Timeless2. Still Life3. State Of Mind4. This is a Bad

Final Grade8/10

Trivia

From Wikipedia:

The album blended the complex, chopped and layered breakbeats and deep basslines of jungle and drum and bass with expansive, symphonic strings and atmospherics, and beautiful female vocals, creating a crossover hit. Released on Pete Tong's FFRR label, the album reached #7 in the charts, and few consider it bettered by his subsequent releases.

Timeless was simultaneously released as a double album and single album. The single album removed four tracks and featured the original mix of "Sensual". The U.S. release of the double album appended two bonus remixes.

Then an active graffiti artist, Goldie featured his paintings in the album's artwork.

Slightly less shitty than Definitely Maybe, this is the album that made Oasis' fortune. It is derivative crap led by a couple of arseholes who can't sing or write lyrics for shit.

I mean Wonderwall is probably their greatest hit ever, and shit he sings like I do! Which is badly, and it's not even interesting badly, it's "can't hold a note" badly. And annoying.

Thankfully the writing is not as spectacularly pre-pubescent as in Definitely Maybe, finally realising that "dove,glove,love" rhymes are stupid, even if they still fall into it often. So probably one of the most overrated albums of all time, particularly in the UK, particularly in the North of the UK, particularly in Manchester, where I fucking live. Not for long though!

The success of Morning Glory catapulted Oasis from being a successful Britpop band to being one of the biggest bands in Britain, with substantial international fame and considerable press coverage in the mainstream and music press. The band played several large open air concerts in the UK during 1996, including two nights at Knebworth in front of a combined audience of 250,000 people (125,000 each night); at the time, they were the biggest gigs ever held for a single band on UK soil. Over 2.6 million people had applied to buy tickets, meaning that Oasis could have theoretically played 20 consecutive sold out nights at Knebworth. Noel reflected that it wouldn't be possible to top this. "For a six-week period building up to that gig we were the biggest band in the world," he said "We were bigger than, dare I say it, fucking God."

This album would be a hip-hop album if it weren't for the music. Let me explain: the lyrics, themes and explicitness of the thing are completely in the hip-hop domain, while the music gives us a really good R&B album.

This contrast is part of what makes the album original. This isn't R&B of a Toni Braxton or Mariah Carey, it's adult stuff, and pretty good stuff as well. Hell, it's R&B a man (or a woman over 15) doesn't have to be ashamed to listen to.

The influences are clear from Stevie Wonder to Barry White to Prince, D'Angelo has a great R&B lexicon in which to build his original vision of the genre. Actually it's a pity that this kind of R&B never got the success it deserves, while we keep getting endlessly recycled sugary-sweet vomit.

Opened by falsetto ad-libs, an organ refrain and pulsating bass lines, the title track "Brown Sugar" features a dark, thick texture and a gutbucket-jazz style and rhythm.The instrumentation throughout the song, highlighted by Jimmy Smith-style organ work, atmospheric percussion and snapping snare drums, has been described by music writers as "organic". The song's sound is also similar to the work of funk, soul and jazz musician Roy Ayers, while D'Angelo's soulful tenor-delivery throughout the song's verses is stylistically similar the flow of most emcees at the time. Misinterpreted as a traditional love song a about a femme fatale by most R&B audiences, "Brown Sugar" takes the form of a conventional love song. However, the lyrics are an ode to marijuana use through its personification as a brown-skin woman. This thematic subsititution is a conventional lyrical technique in hip hop. Music journalist and writer Peter Shapiro later wrote of the song's lyrical content, stating "D'Angelo was extolling the pleasures of pot-fuelled solipsism ("Always down for a ménage à trois/But I think I'ma hit it solo/Hope my niggaz don't mind") and intimating that love, or at least love of the herb, leads to insanity ("Brown sugar babe/I gets high off you love/Don't know how to behave")." Writer and academic Todd Boyd later compared the song, along with Dr. Dre's The Chronic (1992) and Styles P's "Good Times" (2002), to Rick James's hit single "Mary Jane" (1978), stating that the song "celebrated his love for gettin' blazed and spawned ... a truly large following."